2 flood insurance claims·$41,006 paid·10 federal flood & hurricane disasters
Share of the whole county outline, rivers and lakes included; parts FEMA hasn’t mapped count as zero.
Shaded areas are FEMA’s mapped flood hazard zones in and around Franklin County, Iowa. Zoomed out they are simplified; at street level the map switches to FEMA’s exact layer. Tap anywhere to check that spot, or search an address above.
Standard river and creek flooding driven by heavy rainfall and saturated soils dominates the local flood profile, complemented by frequent flash flood events. Over the last 30 years, NOAA recorded 37 general flood events and 26 flash flood events in the area. Recent notable occurrences include a flood event in September 2018 caused by heavy rainfall and saturated ground conditions, as well as a flash flood event in May 2024 resulting from slow-moving thunderstorms that dropped 2 to 4 inches of rain.
Historical National Flood Insurance Program data for Franklin County shows limited claim activity, comprising one claim in Zone A with an average payout of $2,903 and an average recorded water depth of 11 inches, and one claim in Zone X with an average payout of $38,102 and an average recorded water depth of 0 inches. Homeowners and real estate agents managing properties in identified Special Flood Hazard Areas, such as Zone A, as well as properties located in moderate-to-low risk Zone X areas subject to localized stormwater accumulation or heavy precipitation, should pay the closest attention to these flood risks.
Summary written from NOAA storm reports and NFIP claims for this county. Not a prediction.
In flood insurance claims here that reported a flood depth, the average was 11 inches.
Drawn to scale against an 80-inch door. Even a few inches soaks flooring, the bottom of the drywall and anything plugged in near the floor.
Average of the depths reported on claims (zero and implausible values left out); FEMA’s record doesn’t say exactly where each depth was measured. Source: OpenFEMA NFIP claims.
58 NOAA storm reports from Franklin County describe what happened, in the words of the forecasters who covered it. Read the Iowa flood stories →
22 federal disaster declarations since 1965, 10 of them floods, coastal storms or hurricanes.
| Disaster | Began |
|---|---|
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 20, 2024 |
| Severe Storms, Straight-line Winds, And Tornadoes | Dec 15, 2021 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Mar 12, 2019 |
| Severe Storms And Flooding | Sep 21, 2016 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, And Flooding | Jun 14, 2014 |
| Severe Storms, Tornadoes, And Flooding | May 19, 2013 |
| Severe Storms, Flooding, And Tornadoes | Jun 1, 2010 |
| Severe Winter Storms And Snowstorm | Dec 23, 2009 |
Weather and water disasters only; most recent first. Source: OpenFEMA Disaster Declarations.
63 since 1996: 26 flash floods and 37 river or area floods.
| Event | Date | Damage |
|---|---|---|
| Flood | May 21, 2024 | — |
| Flash Flood | Mar 17, 2019 | $200,000 |
| Flood | Sep 20, 2018 | $50,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 20, 2018 | $20,000 |
| Flood | Sep 5, 2018 | $10,000 |
| Flood | Sep 5, 2018 | $20,000 |
| Flood | Sep 5, 2018 | $100,000 |
| Flash Flood | Sep 5, 2018 | $50,000 |
— = no damage estimate in the record. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Flood · May 21, 2024. PLEASE NOTE, for tornadoes, please see separate Storm Data entry for May 21st. ||Multiple rounds of thunderstorms brought torrential rainfall, damaging winds, hail and destructive tornadoes to the state. These thunderstorms were the result of a low pressure system which lifted north into the area on the night of May 20th, 2024, producing slow moving storms that dropped 2 to 4 inches of rainfall. This resulted in f…
Flash Flood · Mar 17, 2019. Reports from the 13h through the 19th in this entry. ||A relatively deep and widespread snowpack existed across the region during early to mid March. Many areas in central and northern Iowa had around a foot to two feet of snow on the ground, along with many areas in upstream river basins in Minnesota and the Dakotas having similar or deeper snowpacks on the ground. Additionally, with the below normal temperatures…
Flood · Sep 20, 2018. More heavy rainfall was seen across the area, primarily situated over the northern third of the state, as a surface boundary sat across central Iowa and a shortwave moved through the upper level flow. Overall, conditions remained ripe and very much summer-like as opposed to mid-September including precipitable water values were around and in excess of 1.7 inches, moderate to strong low level moisture flow, modest…
Flash Flood · Sep 20, 2018. More heavy rainfall was seen across the area, primarily situated over the northern third of the state, as a surface boundary sat across central Iowa and a shortwave moved through the upper level flow. Overall, conditions remained ripe and very much summer-like as opposed to mid-September including precipitable water values were around and in excess of 1.7 inches, moderate to strong low level moisture flow, modest…
National Weather Service narratives, lightly trimmed. Source: NOAA Storm Events Database.
Every colour on the map above is a place on this drawing: where the ground sits relative to the flood FEMA plans for.
If a building in Franklin County is in a high-risk zone (A or V) and its mortgage comes from a federally regulated or insured lender, or is federally backed, flood insurance is required.
Outside those zones it is optional, and often worth having: from 2014 to 2024 nearly one-third of NFIP claims came from outside the high-risk Special Flood Hazard Area. Since Risk Rating 2.0, NFIP premiums are set for each building, so the only reliable price is a quote: FloodSmart.gov or a local agent.